Reflect are you rushing things too much?

Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 4, 2022
A Service Design Principle about the speed of customer experience and the impact on the team

There is the movement of slow food fighting against the crazy side of fast food. Shouldn’t we have the same thing for services?

For many service creators, good service is a service that serves customers as fast as possible. We want to show our customers that we understand their time is valuable, so we want the interaction to be as quick as possible. But in some cases, this can then feel rushed!

It can feel rushed for the customer, and it can feel pretty stressful for the team to deliver the service.

That’s a realization I made for the service I create with the Swiss Innovation Academy. As it’s a small project that I run alone, it’s super hard for me to answer every email or Linkedin message quickly. I tried. It made me miserable.

So I tried something else. I instead try to answer in a reasonable time but answer every message in detail and with care. As my service does not make or break a customer’s day, I feel the wait is bearable for them. But when they get a lovely answer, they might feel: “Oh, it was worth waiting”.

I feel I’m way more mindful. It makes me realize I’m offering a slow service that is here to stay for years sustainably. I’m not rushing.

Don’t get me wrong. I like some good old fat fast food served in a few minutes. But at the same time, I also like some local restaurants where the wait is long, but the food is also an experience on a whole other level. So both fast service and slow service have their purpose.

So let’s be intentional and not fall on either side of the speed of service by default. Let me ask you this:

What’s the right speed for your team to feel that they are doing their best work? Is your service more like a sprint or a marathon for the user and your staff?

For some services, speed is everything. For others, the level of detail and care matters more.

Going further

To go further, you can explore an article from Fast Company by Gregory Ciotti asking himself: “Is Slow Service The Way To Win Customers’ Hearts And Wallets?”. There, he shares an interesting piece of research done by Gallup that goes in that direction. The author also shares experiences from Zappos and Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby.

Alternative titles

I’m not totally convinced yet of this Service Design Principle title. Here are a few other variations:
  • Don’t be fast by default
  • I can wait for more care
  • Don’t rush everything


Little side notes

  • This is the very first shitty draft for this new Service Design Principle.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always comments and feedbacks to improve this principle are welcome
  • If you have a personal story that goes in that direction it would also help if you share it 

5 comments

Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 19, 2022
A second and shortened draft of this Service Design principle about the speed of customer experience.

Don’t be fast by default


The slow food movement fights against the crazy side of fast food. So shouldn’t we have the same thing for services?

For many service creators, good service serves customers as fast as possible. We want to show our customers that we understand their time is valuable. So, we want the interaction to be as quick as possible. But in some cases, this can then feel rushed!

It can feel rushed for the customer. It can feel pretty stressful for the team too that delivers the service.

With the Swiss Innovation Academy, when I try to answer as fast as possible every message, it makes me miserable.

So instead, I try to answer in a reasonable time. But I answer every message in detail and with care. As my service does not make or break a customer’s day, I feel the wait is bearable. When the users get a lovely and detailed answer, they might say: “Oh, it was worth waiting!”.

Offering a slow service makes me realize that this project is here to stay for years sustainably. I’m not rushing.

For some services, speed is everything. For others, the level of detail and care matters more. 
So, let’s be intentional and not fall on either side of the speed of service by default. 

Let me ask you this:
“What’s the right speed for your team to feel that they are doing their best work?”


Little side notes

  • This is the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • I was able to reduce the lengths by 33.61% compared to the first version.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
  • As always feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.
Deleted
Oct 29, 2022
Maybe: Is it ever okay to be slow?

That makes me think of when it is, like when you’ve set the expectation for a certain turnaround time, or when you’re messing up by going too fast, etc.
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 31, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

It’s okay to be slow

The slow food movement fights against the crazy side of fast food. Shouldn’t we have the same thing for services?

For many service creators, good service is one that serves customers as fast as possible. But in some cases, this can then feel rushed for the customer. And it can feel pretty stressful for the team that delivers the service.

For example, with the Swiss Innovation Academy, when I try to answer as fast as possible every message, it makes me miserable. Instead, I try to answer in a reasonable time. But I answer every message with care and a personal touch (1).

For some services, speed is everything. For others, the level of detail and care matters more (2). So, let’s be intentional and not fall on either side of the speed of service by default.

Let me ask you.

What’s the right speed for your team to feel they are doing their best work?

Footnotes

(1) As my service does not make or break a customer’s day, I feel the wait is bearable. When the users get a lovely and detailed answer, they might say: “Oh, it was worth waiting!”.

(2) William J. Mcewen (2002). When Speed Kills: When Marketers Emphasize Doing Things Faster, They Often End Up Doing Things Worse. Gallup, Inc.. Available at https://extra.swissinnovation.academy/5kyY accessed 31 October 2022.

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 33 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve changed the title of the principle to be clearer based on a conversation with Patrick Marcelissen